1940s

Following World War II, British cinema entered what is often called a ‘golden age’ as the country turned to film for escapism, information and a sense of community. In this rich soil, the idea for a British Film Academy germinated and the organisation that would become BAFTA was born. Television, meanwhile, which had halted during the war, resumed broadcast with around 400,000 watching then Princess Elizabeth’s wedding to The Duke of Edinburgh.